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GPSR - EU General Product Safety Regulation

All OOAK Creation pieces are by definition "one-of-a-kind" individual pieces of ceramics, executed entirely by me, Flora Fabris and signed by me. As a result, I believe that my work could fall into the categorie "antiques" listed as an exclusion on the GPSR. I am currently in the process of seeking professional and legal advice to confirm this, before I can resume shipping to EU and NI. I am listing thereafter evidences and official texts published on the EU website, that has lead me to this conclusion.

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The EU’s General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) has come into effect on 13 December 2024, replacing the current General Product Safety Directive (GPSD). This new regulation introduces significant updates aimed at enhancing the safety of consumer goods sold both online and offline across the European Union. You will find the integrality of the new GPSR here.

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Objectives:

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  • ensuring the safety of all products, including those linked to new technologies

  • addressing challenges posed by the growth of online sales and in particular via online marketplaces;

  • ensuring a better enforcement of the rules and more efficient and even market surveillance;

  • improving the effectiveness of recalls of dangerous products in the hands of consumers.

 

What's new ?

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  • Precautionary principle shall be widely applied by all stakeholders for product safety

  • Specific product safety obligations for both economic operators and providers of online marketplaces

  • Reinforced product traceability requirements

  • List of aspects to be taken into account when assessing the safety of products, including for new technologies

  • Accident reporting to authorities by businesses

  • Reinforced market surveillance rules

  • Specific rules on how to handle product safety recalls, including a mandatory recall notice template, and right to remedy for consumers

 

The GPSR aims to ensure a higher level of safety for EU consumers and includes several important updates:

1. Alignment with Online Sales Trends:
GPSR accounts for the rapid rise of e-commerce, requiring that products sold online meet the same safety standards as those sold offline. Marketplaces and platforms are now expected to ensure compliance and may be held responsible for unsafe products sold through their channels.

2. Introduction of an EU Representative Requirement:
Non-EU manufacturers (including UK-based exporters) must appoint an authorised representative based in the EU to act as the contact point for safety compliance. This representative will be responsible for providing the EU authorities with the necessary product documentation and ensuring safety obligations are met.

3. Enhanced Traceability:
Businesses will need to ensure robust traceability systems, including clearly identifiable product information on packaging. This extends to supplying essential details of the manufacturer, importer, or EU representative to authorities and end consumers.

4. Market Surveillance:
The GPSR introduces more stringent measures for market surveillance, including faster product recalls and improved information-sharing mechanisms for dangerous products. Businesses may face higher scrutiny from regulators.

5. Focus on New Risks:
The regulation considers new and emerging risks, such as cybersecurity threats posed by connected devices (e.g., IoT products). Businesses must address these risks when designing and manufacturing products.

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Extracts directly concerning OOAK Creation work and online practices of selling, and why I think my work could be considered as excluded from complying with the GPSR as set in Chapter I - Article 2 - Alinea (i) - Antiques :

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CHAPTER II - Article 4
Distance sales

1. Products offered for sale online or through other means of distance sales shall be deemed to be made available on the market if the offer is targeted at consumers in the Union. An offer for sale shall be considered to be targeted at consumers in the Union if the relevant economic operator directs, by any means, its activities to one or several Member State(s).

2. For the purpose of determining whether an offer is targeted at consumers in the Union, the following non-exhaustive criteria shall be taken into account:

  • (a) the use of an official language or currency of the Member States,

  • (b) a domain name registered in one of the Member States,

  • (c) the geographical areas to which the products can be dispatched.

 

CHAPTER XI - Article 47
Entry into force and application
This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
It shall apply from [6 months after the entry into force of this Regulation].

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CHAPTER I - Article 2

2. This Regulation shall not apply to:

  • (a) medicinal products for human or veterinary use;

  • (b) food;

  • (c) feed;

  • (d) living plants and animals, genetically modified organisms and genetically modified microorganisms in contained use, as well as products of plants and animals relating directly to their future reproduction;

  • (e) animal by-products and derived products;

  • (f) plant protection products;

  • (g) equipment on which consumers ride or travel which is operated by a service provider within the context of a service provided to consumers;

  • (h) aircraft referred to in point (d) of Article 2(3) of Regulation 2018/1139; 38 … EN 33 EN

  • (i) antiques.

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The definition of (i) antiques is set in:

REGULATION (EU) 2023/988 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 10 May 2023

on general product safety, amending Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Directive (EU) 2020/1828 of the European Parliament and the Council, and repealing Directive 2001/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Directive 87/357/EEC

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as :

 

(18)

Antiques, such as works of art or collectors’ items are specific categories of products which cannot be expected to meet the safety requirements laid down by this Regulation, and should therefore be excluded from its scope. However, in order to prevent other products from being mistakenly considered as belonging to those categories, it is necessary to take into account that works of art are products created solely for artistic purposes, that collectors’ items are of sufficient rarity and historical or scientific interest to justify their collection and preservation, and that antiques, if they are not already works of art or collectors’ items or both, are of an extraordinary age. When assessing whether a product is an antique, such as a work of art or a collector’s item, Annex IX to Council Directive 2006/112/EC (13) could be taken into account.

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The latest version of Annex IX to Council Directive 2006/112/EC dating from 01/01/2024 defines an antique, such as a work of art as:

 

ANNEX IX

WORKS OF ART, COLLECTORS' ITEMS AND ANTIQUES, AS REFERRED TO IN POINTS (2), (3) AND (4) OF ARTICLE 311(1)

PART A

Works of art

(1) 

Pictures, collages and similar decorative plaques, paintings and drawings, executed entirely by hand by the artist, other than plans and drawings for architectural, engineering, industrial, commercial, topographical or similar purposes, hand-decorated manufactured articles, theatrical scenery, studio back cloths or the like of painted canvas (CN code 9701 );

(2) 

original engravings, prints and lithographs, being impressions produced in limited numbers directly in black and white or in colour of one or of several plates executed entirely by hand by the artist, irrespective of the process or of the material employed, but not including any mechanical or photomechanical process (CN code 9702 00 00 );

(3) 

original sculptures and statuary, in any material, provided that they are executed entirely by the artist; sculpture casts the production of which is limited to eight copies and supervised by the artist or his successors in title (CN code 9703 00 00 ); on an exceptional basis, in cases determined by the Member States, the limit of eight copies may be exceeded for statuary casts produced before 1 January 1989;

(4) 

tapestries (CN code 5805 00 00 ) and wall textiles (CN code 6304 00 00 ) made by hand from original designs provided by artists, provided that there are not more than eight copies of each;

(5) 

individual pieces of ceramics executed entirely by the artist and signed by him;

(6) 

enamels on copper, executed entirely by hand, limited to eight numbered copies bearing the signature of the artist or the studio, excluding articles of jewellery and goldsmiths' and silversmiths' wares;

(7) 

photographs taken by the artist, printed by him or under his supervision, signed and numbered and limited to 30 copies, all sizes and mounts included.

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